8. Action Research Aimed at Contextualizing Partnership in Irrigation Water Management in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

This chapter examines the process and outcomes of action research on irrigation management in Sulawesi, Indonesia. The objectives of the research were to provide an opportunity for old and new stakeholders to meet, discuss, and make decisions together and to provide experience of using interactive processes in implementing agreed-upon solutions. By jointly experiencing challenges and successes based on mutual decision-making with moderate support from the researchers, a space for participation and creating contextualized roles and responsibilities was formed based on the sociocultural situation. Moreover, this occurred regardless of whether the participant was on the “governing” or “governed” side. This chapter addresses the dynamic integration of local customs and government-led systems facing mutual discontinuity, which is a concern from the cultural perspective of interactive governance.